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Film Review: Watch - Interview with acclaimed director Pablo Larrain on his controversial new film 'The Club'

By
gregw

25 Mar 2016

Release Date
25 Mar 2016

Watch - Interview with Pablo Larrain on hard-hitting film The Club

Set in a sleepy, quaint Chilean beach town, a collection of four disgraced priests live secluded: cast out and damned by society for crimes that they have committed, including such abominations as child abuse and stealing children away from unwed mothers. Together, they live under a strict regime and are watched over by a female caretaker. Their colourless, yet also fragile existence is upended one day by the arrival of a fifth man.

Although a fictional work, Pablo Larrain’s film feels as though it could be carved from fact. It is prescient and topical in a climate of distrust and unease around the Church. The fact that Larrain executes The Club without casting too firm a judgment on his characters is evidence of his masterly touch. He is no apologist, but he is not quite the executioner either. He is not even the jury or the judge. As a result, we are left to draw our own conclusions.

We sat down with Larrain to talk about this fascinating, Golden Globe nominated and Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear winning film, which is his first release since his 2012 film No, starring Gael Garcia Bernal.